RealGM

Bonnell had some things to say:

http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_n ... bcats.html

I thought this part was interesting:

-- It's really stupid when some fans (and certain websites) obsess about whether Gerald Henderson gets enough playing time. But you know what's more stupid? Others suggesting Henderson not playing means it's his destiny to be a bust. Chill out. He's a kid on a team full of guards. This isn't his time. But that doesn't mean he sucks.

Couldn't the same be said for DJ? He's playing behind a totally different Felts this season and because of that he's playing 10 mins less per game this season. We also have Flip on the roster now - which we didn't last year - who eats into his PT.

That said, it does look like his offense has regressed - which is a pity because his D continues to improve. In saying that, he is still shooting 38% from 3 - problem is that this is more than what he is shooting from the floor in general!

Good to see him shooting straight up and down last night. I've felt that he's been shooting far too off balanced this season. Good to see him being more aggressive taking the ball to the rack last night.

End of the day, I do hope he continues on his great play of last night. As someone said in a GT the other week: A good Flip and a good DJ coming off the bench will go a long way in helping us get to, have have some success, in the post season.

I think that's antoher proof he reads us (and BCP) and we are actually a big "inspiration" for him - otherwise he often wouldn't have anything to write about. Not saying we are his only source but we know how many times he was just few days behind this board.

I think in some aspects his D has gotten a lot better (and I've never thought he was bad)...my main issue now is that he switches off too easily from his own man and can end up in a bad matchup. He got caught twice by Anderson, first time he did a pretty admirable job of holding his ground...2nd time Anderson was smarter and used his advantage to move around him and score.

Which can be fixed.

Setting other guys up remains a problem. Every once and a while he'll drive a little bit in the paint and get his mate spotted up a little separation, but for the most part he's just passing it around the circle. I know he can do better, so just like last season I lean towards him being conservative trying not to piss LB off.

I do know right now his value is low and if he were traded we'd be getting pennies on the dollar.

spectre_ wrote:But for the most part he's just passing it around the circle.

I thought that showed a lot last night. His shooting was great - as was his shot selection, but if he wasn't taking a shot, he was pretty much a passenger.

I think that LB much prefers the ball in the hands of guys like Felts, Jax, Flip and even Boris - which makes DJ 4th in line when it comes to setting up the offense so maybe it is more by coaches design than anything?

He can make some seriously slick passes. Hope he starts to show it a lot more. There is no way he is just a Boobie Gibson type PG.

This reminds me of those halcyon days when we thought Adam Morrison might end up being worth a crap.

Adam Morrison's and D.J. Augustin's rookie seasons were nothing alike.

Mezotarkus wrote:This reminds me of those halcyon days when we thought Adam Morrison might end up being worth a crap.

You're comparing DJ to Ammo?

My opinion changes alot but IMO you have to give a guy at least 3 years in the league before you can tell what kind of player he is going to be.

Fact is DJ is a mini-shooting guard, not a PG. He's not a distributor, not a leader/QB type player. He plays PG because his size demands it. Augustin, on the rare occasions when he's playing well, can hit outside shots and creates some havoc on penetration. Defensively he is not AS bad as last year, but he's still not good. He gets eaten alive on picks, and just cannot contain dribble penetration. Oh, and he's too short to defend passes by larger point guards.

You would expect progress as a 2nd year player, but he's regressed. I hope he shows a lot more, but he will always be limited by his size, lack of leadership and limited distribution and defensive skils.

BigSlam wrote:

Mezotarkus wrote:This reminds me of those halcyon days when we thought Adam Morrison might end up being worth a crap.

You're comparing DJ to Ammo?

I am comparing us re: Morrison to us re: DJ. As with Morrison, we are latching on to any fragment of hope, glimmer of talent, morsel of potential. The facts are Augustin has regressed and is absolutely not a player we could trade for a lottery pick right now. And yes I will mention that we passed up Brook Lopez for him.

Bassman wrote:You would expect progress as a 2nd year player, but he's regressed.

Don't count out the serious improvement of Felts this season over previous seasons and DJ's 10 mins less per game as being a factor.

Besides:
Mayo
Love
Gordon
Alexander
Bayless
Thompson
Rush
McGee
Hickson
Ajincia
Lee
Koufos
Hill
Greene
Chalmers

How much have all those 2nd year players progressed?

Like ccballin said, let's not expect too much, too soon. I think that he is still working out his place on the team but he has 100% shown he belongs IMO.

I'm sure everyone thinks I'm snarky to begin with, but do you realize how much restraint I have to show in threads like these to keep the snark monster from coming out? I don't think you understand how much I have to hold myself back.

I'll be as nice as possible, and say that we should give him the benefit of the doubt like we did our previous lottery-pick PG, especially given the fact that he has been given even fewer opportunities to prove himself.

W_HAMILTON wrote:I'm sure everyone thinks I'm snarky to begin with, but do you realize how much restraint I have to show in threads like these to keep the snark monster from coming out? I don't think you understand how much I have to hold myself back.

I'll be as nice as possible, and say that we should give him the benefit of the doubt like we did our previous lottery-pick PG, especially given the fact that he has been given even fewer opportunities to prove himself.

I think the best strategy is to just not get involved. There are some really dumb things said on this board sometimes....

dj has been disappointing this season, no doubt. but its way too early to write him off as a bust.

one thing is similar between ammo and dj and that is confidence. dj has lost his confidence the same way ammo did.

i am happy to see an improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

Wonder if there is a conflict of interest, or at least have the potential to put him in a tricky position, for MJ to have Bobcats players as a part of his "team"?

http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/index.htm ... stin?idx=6

It's too bad we didn't get DJ before Felton, maybe they'd play him at SG where he would excel.

I agree with most on here though, he's an offensive shoot first guard who only plays PG because of his size. I think his place in the NBA may end up being a 6th man shooter off the bench for scoring. And when we talk about him playing well, it's normally because he's hitting his 3's, which supports my opinion.

Also, this is only his 2nd year and we're certainly not guaranteed to get Felton back next season. It'd be stupid to trade him unless it was really worth it. Never sell low.

BigSlam wrote:Wonder if there is a conflict of interest, or at least have the potential to put him in a tricky position, for MJ to have Bobcats players as a part of his "team"?

http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/index.htm ... stin?idx=6

I would hope not. lol, I like how the first sentence is about him being a natural PG.

Ammo should not be brought up in the same sentence with DJ. This season for DJ is STILL better than anything Ammo ever managed.

That said, he's horrible this year. Just awful. He's worse in every single facet of his game.

So what do we make of that? It's gotta be mental to some degree, he didn't forget how to play basketball and his physical issues were not issues last season. It's not like his role has him shouldering a heavier load or more minutes, so what's left? Confidence, basically, so maybe Fats' (I think?) suggestion that LB had done some serious damage by yanking his minutes around could still be in effect.

Obviously I agree with Spectre, trading him would be an awful idea, and odds are pretty solid that he improves. The example that I think of is Andrea Bargnani. He put up a pretty decent rookie year, 13 PER, and then dropped to replacement-level in his sophomore campaign like DJ has. As Hollinger said after that season in a chat, (paraphrasing) "of course he can play better... we know this because he already has." In other words, it's extremely rare for someone's rookie season to be their best NBA work. Odds are very good that DJ can return to that level. It DOES, however, suggest that he's not going to be reaching our "wildest dreams" projections for him after that rookie campaign. He might never be more than an OK defender and good, not great, offensive PG. Still, that's better than the rut of awful that he's in now.

Paydro70 wrote:So what do we make of that?

10 mins less per game, a starting PG who finally playing like a starting PG should play and a vet 2/1 that has been brought in and the coach digs?

He's not getting nearly the opportunity he was last season.

BigSlam wrote:

Paydro70 wrote:So what do we make of that?

10 mins less per game, a starting PG who finally playing like a starting PG should play and a vet 2/1 that has been brought in and the coach digs?

He's not getting nearly the opportunity he was last season.

Strong possibility, but remember Felton wasn't playing well to start the season and DJ was playing just as bad if not worse... so he did have his opportunity at least for 10-15 games but failed to take advantage of it. Felton turned things around and is now playing his best ever while DJ has had a few spotty good games (Miami/Cleveland/Orlando) and that's about it.

One thing I can say is that when he plays well off the bench, it gives us a hell of a lot better chance to win then when he doesn't.